A troubled legacy is what Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had left behind! Nearly 7 decades after his believed death, several debates, conspiracy theories still lives on; all credit goes to the mysteries surrounding his death. The Declassification of 100 Netaji Files by PM Narendra Modi might be a significant milestone in the mysterious death of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.
Vaguely there exist three main theories. Two commissions of inquiry had concluded that Netaji had died in a plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945. But the third probe panel, headed by Justice MK Mukherjee, had contested it and suggested that Bose was alive after that.
One of the remaining two theories state that he was held as prisoner of War by USSR. The other says he came back to India and led his life in disguise.
Declassification of 100 Netaji Files:
In October 2015, the prime minister had met the family members of Netaji and announced that the government would declassify the files relating to Netaji. The first lot of 33 files were declassified by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and handed over to the NAI (National Archives of India) on December 4, 2015.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 23rd made public digital copies of 100 secret files relating to Subhas Chandra Bose on his 119th birth anniversary, which could throw some light on the controversy over his death.
The files were declassified and put on digital display at the National Archives of India in New Delhi by the prime minister, who pressed a button in the presence of Bose family members and Union ministers Mahesh Sharma and Babul Supriyo.
Later, Modi and his ministerial colleagues went around glancing at the declassified files. They spent over half an hour at the National Archives. PM also spoke to the members of the Bose family.
Later in the day, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee demanded that Netaji be given the title of “leader of the nation”, just as Gandhiji was honoured with the title of “father of the nation”.
Political Significance:
The timing of the release assumes political significance as West Bengal goes to polls later this year. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had already released 64 files last year. She will seek to cash in on the fact that she was the first to declassify the Netaji files.
These 64 documents, running into more than 12,000 pages, had stunning revelations. It mentioned that Subhash Chandra Bose’s family was snooped for nearly a decade by the Nehru government after his disappearance. The documents also show that the British suspected Bose was still alive after his plane crashed in Taipei. But, the letter, purportedly written by Nehru to Clement Atlee, that mentions Netaji as a ‘war criminal’ is likely to spice up politics in the run-up to West Bengal elections.
Despite all the noise and fury the BJP is still not a major player in the state. It would still go to town claiming it did what the Left and the Congress couldn’t in all these years. But it might have less momentum as it had lost its declassification card to Mamta.
The Left Front has been demanding of the center that these be declassified. But it never took the initiative to make public the state documents concerning Netaji during its 34 long years in power. Congress was beginning to look confident again after random electoral victories across the country. Yet here, the clear loser seems to be Congress.
Several conspiracy theories, tell-tale ‘revelations’ and three inquiry commissions later we stand exactly where we were decades ago on the Netaji disappearance mystery.
The NAI had planned to release digital copies of 25 declassified Netaji files on Bose in the public domain every month. It would take time for scholars and researchers to analyze on the declassified files. So let us rest assured that the noise over the Netaji mystery will die anytime soon.
Written by S G A Thomas.
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